TWU Tests New Barriers for Bus Operators

FEBRUARY 26 -- The TWU has begun a campaign to set a new standard for transit worker safety following the shooting death of Bus Operator Bernard Gribbin, who was killed while driving his morning route in Philadelphia’s Germantown section.

On Tuesday, International President John Samuelsen and other TWU reps went to Pennsylvania for an outdoor ballistics test on bullet-resistant barriers to protect Bus Operators.

Samuelsen and TWU Local 234, which represents SEPTA workers, negotiated the agreement to install the new barriers last November. The agency has now equipped eight buses with the armored barriers for road testing for operator comfort and weight distribution. Each enclosure costs approximately $15,000 to $18,000, according to the manufacturer, Pennsylvania-based Custom Glass Solutions. Custom Glass Solutions is a leading supplier of bullet-resistant glass for US Government agencies.

After seeing the live fire exercise on Tuesday, in which marksmen with a variety of handguns shot into the barrier at close range but did not penetrate it, Samuelsen said, “This is the precedent that we’re going to use to bring to every city in America.”

Also attending the exercise from Local 100 were officers from Buses including Tom Lenane and Danny Ascona from Maintenance, MTA Bus/Private Lines VP Danny D'Amato, MABSTOA VP Donald Yates, and Sean Battaglia, Mike Capocci and Gary Rosario from Operators Divisions.

You can watch a news story about the live fire test here.